Product Description

Through this rhyming, rollicking tale about the moon stealing the sun's glory, children learn about the importance of humility and the dangers of pride. Written and beautifully illustrated by a husband-and-wife team.

Publisher's Description

Through this rhyming, rollicking tale about the moon stealing the sun's glory, children learn about the importance of humility and the dangers of pride. Written and beautifully illustrated by a husband-and-wife team.

Author Bio

Kristi and T. Lively Fluharty live in Prior Lake, MN, with their five daughters. T. Lively (Tom) is an illustrator whose artwork has appeared in numerous publications. Kristi holds a BA in technical journalism and currently homeschools their children, teaches Sunday school, and teaches swimming lessons.

T. Lively Fluharty is an accomplished illustrator whose artwork has appeared in such publications as Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Focus on the Family. His work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, Communications Arts, and Spectrum. Fluharty illustrated The Barber Who Wanted to Pray and The Boy and the Ocean, as well as Fool Moon Rising which he cowrote with his wife, Kristi.

In Fool Moon Rising, the moon has decided to tell a tale of his pride - but in the end, learns to be humble by recognizing from where his power comes.

Pros:

*Mr. Fluharty's artwork is amazing. Not only is it beautiful, but it's humorous and fun!

*The gentle approach to showing children their own pride, and explaining boasting, is needed for everyone reading this book, including mom and dad (and me).

*After the story is finished, two pages in the back of the book share some random "outer space" facts for children to learn about.

*I would have enjoyed seeing a children's explanation of how the moon causes the waves and tides to "do their thing." But this book does open up a world of discussion that can take place since some of the cosmic concepts aren't explained.

Cons:

*The text of the poetry was a bit weaker than I'd hoped to read. I guess I was just expecting a bit more creativity combined with strength in the text.

*One of the pages of artwork could possibly frighten a small child. My girls thought it was creepy, but other reviews I've read have mentioned that their little 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children loved the entire book and have begged to have it read to them numerous times. So maybe it's just my family that thinks this!

Fool Moon Rising's website contains a preview of the book, screensavers and wallpapers, a little bit more about the author and illustrator, and sketches and paintings by the illustrator.

First we see a young boy wondering if a certain story he's heard is true. The moon, he says, once bragged every night he could bring light to the dark night sky; he pompously sang only songs about himself (like "Blue Moon"), took pride in his ability to transform from a round orb to a sliver, delighted in the thought that astronauts visited him and that he caused the great oceans to rise and swell. "I am the greatest light!" he bragged.Then one day the moon learns he was just reflecting the Sun's glory - and the boy prays that every day and in everything he does he will make much of God, not himself.The last page of the book offers a few discussion questions, illustrations of some amazing sights in space (including the X Structure at the Core of the Whirlpool Galaxy), and some fun facts about space.What I Like: The illustrations in this book are nothing less than outstanding. T. Lively Fluharty's artwork is not only rich and detailed, but it's just plain fun. My four year old (who happens to love everything space related) laughed out loud at these illustrations.Second, the message here is not only terrific, but the moon and how it reflects the light of the sun are a great way to explain how we can reflect Christ's light.What I Dislike: I wish that instead of devoting the last two pages of the book to miscellaneous facts about space, the author had instead spent at least a little room explaining how the moon really does reflect the sun, how it waxes and wanes, how it affects the tides, etc. As it is, all this is spoken of as if the readers already understand these concepts, so I spent a bit of time explaining them to my preschooler.Overall Rating: Despite these flaws, my 4 year old asks me to read Fool Moon Rising over and over again, and I give it a rating of Excellent.Kristina SeleshankoManaging EditorChristian Children's Book Review